Archive List

The U.S. House of Representatives has decided that the urban-industrial lower Taunton River in Massachusetts should become part of the National Wild and Scenic River System. Lots of people think that calling this stretch of the Taunton "wild and scenic" is just about the most bizarre thing they've ever heard.

Despite internal concerns for safety and high costs for a small number of people, the National Park Service has agreed to provide winter access across Sylvan Pass in Yellowstone National Park. However, conditions tied to that access could make it easy for the pass to stay snow-bound as Yellowstone officials initially wanted.

The First Battle of Bull Run (First Manassas) was fought near Manassas, Virginia, on July 21, 1861. The Second Battle of Bull Run (Second Manassas) was fought in the same area August 28-30, 1862. Now officials at Manassas National Battlefield Park are fighting to restore the battlefield’s historic sightlines and protect them from encroaching development.

The National Park Service’s arrowhead emblem was authorized on July 20, 1951. Like the ranger’s familiar “Smokey the Bear” Stetson hat, the Arrowhead is now an American icon. The origin and evolution of the Arrowhead is an interesting story.

Fierce winter storms and shifting shoals gave birth to the "Graveyard of the Atlantic," where thousands of ships have foundered since record-keeping began in the 16th century. Beginning late in the 18th century, rescuers began patrolling the East Coast in search of such wrecks.

Few rigors matched those endured by the men of the U.S. Life-Saving Service. They spent the harshest months of the year in remote coastal locations watching for ships that had run aground. Then, typically when the weather was worst, perhaps in the middle of a storm in the middle of the night, they had to row out to sea through the surf with hopes of saving lives.

A federal judge has restored Endangered Species Act protection for wolves in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem, rejecting the Interior Department's contention that the species is well on its way to recovery.

Zion National Park has become a magnet for canyoneering enthusiasts. With more than four dozen remote and technical slot canyons feeding into Zion Canyon, the park is just about as good as it gets for practitioners of this rapidly growing extreme sport.

If you've ever spent any time fishing, you know how hard it is to reach down and grab a fish with your bare hands. Well, the wolves at Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska are pretty gifted when it comes to fishing, as this National Park Service video reveals.

Roughly a year after they first voiced their opposition to a railroad's plan to use bombs to defuse avalanche danger along the southern flanks of Glacier National Park, park officials are reiterating that opposition.

High ozone levels have prompted Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials to issue an air pollution advisory for today and Saturday. So if you're visiting the park, you might want to ease back on your physical activity, especially if you already have respiratory problems.

Three men and a teenager rescued from a wildfire at Whiskeytown National Recreation Area on Wednesday were in a closed area where a marijuana plantation had been spotted. Two undocumented Mexican nationals have been arrested and are scheduled to be deported. A third man is being treated at a burn center.

How environmentally sensitive is the Canadian government? Can the presidents of two of the United States' conservation groups convince the government not to allow development in the headwaters of the Flathead Valley that lies upstream of Glacier National Park and across from Waterton Lakes National Park?

Part pep rally and part nuts-and-bolts introspection. That's probably the best way to sum up the first day of the Superintendents' Summit that brought roughly 500 National Park Service personnel to a tony ski resort enclave in a national forest outside Salt Lake City.

Wildlife biologists in Alaska are concerned about the decline in harbor seal numbers at Glacier Bay National Park. In an ongoing study they are capturing seals to take biological samples and implant transmitters that hopefully will shed some light on why the overall population has been dropping.

The first major land engagement of the Civil War was fought 147 years ago this month. The ensuing four-year struggle entailed more than 2,000 battles or skirmishes and cost more than 600,000 American lives. This quiz tests your knowledge of Civil War national parks and the battles they commemorate. Answers are at the end. No peeking.

Should rules meant to protect resources and visitors be less stringent if a National Park System unit is designated Recreation Area? House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is spearheading a legislative campaign to have Golden Gate National Recreation Area redesignated Golden Gate National Parks. Bay Area dog owners oppose the proposed change, fearing that it would put an end to off-leash dog walking privileges they currently enjoy.

The National Park Organic Act of 1916 directed the fledging National Park Service to, more than anything else, protect the resources of the growing National Park System. Sadly, a new report contends the agency is failing to do just that at Biscayne National Park, where coral reefs are facing "imminent" collapse.

One-hundred-and-forty-five years had passed since Confederate General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson was mortally wounded by "friendly fire" in the woods at Chancellorsville, and yet it might have been yesterday. Thick forest still hangs over the waning vestige of the Old Mountain Road where the general was riding, beyond the front lines, on the night of May 2, 1863, when members of the 18th North Carolina mistook him and his aides for a Union incursion.

Oregon Caves National Monument celebrated its 99th birthday July 12. The park’s marble cave has suffered significant physical damage and secondary effects since its discovery in 1874. Resource managers are using a survey method called Visitor Impact Mapping to better understand where and how visitors have affected the condition of the cave.

Coronado National Memorial, which celebrated its 56th birthday on July 9, is situated on the Mexican border about 20 miles south of Sierra Vista. Coronado has two “sister parks” in Mexico. Hands-across-the-border partnerships like these produce many kinds of benefits.

Not only shouldn't you pose next to bison in Yellowstone National Park, but if you're visiting Saguaro National Park don't try to make friends with poisonous gila monsters. That lesson was painfully delivered to a 24-year-old man.